Header Image-International Affairs

SON Student Awarded Prestigious International Fellowship

Details

Created: April 18th, 2013

“Afya Bora” is Swahili for “Better Health” and is the name of the consortium of four African and four American academic health centers.* The Fellowship supports 20 medical and nursing graduates and public health professionals each year (4 from the United States and 16 from Africa). Dr. Karen McCarty is Ms. Bahemuka’s DNP advisor.

The purpose of the fellowship is to provide trainees, like Bahemuka, with a set of practical skills that will prepare them for leadership positions in government, non-government and academic health institutions in developing countries. The training, which for Bahemuka will take place in her native Uganda, has two components: a 9-week core curriculum course plus 3 distance learning modules, and two 4-month attachments to an academic, governmental or non-governmental organization.

The mission of the Afya Bora Consortium is to strengthen health systems in its African partner countries by implementing a leadership training program for African and U.S. health professionals. The fellowship will focus on training leaders for HIV/AIDS prevention, care and research programs. Afya Bora’s long-term goal is to establish a sustainable program that is owned, led and conducted by a consortium of African institutions who continue to focus on leadership in healthcare which addresses critical health priorities and improves population health.

Bahemuka’s commitment to her education and her home country is inspiring. She departs for her year-long fellowship in June 2013. Stay tuned for news from the field over the next year!

For information pertaining to international fellowships and opportunities such as this one, please contact Dr. Lynda Wilson, Professor at the UAB School of Nursing and Deputy Director of the school's PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for International Nursing: lyndawilson@uab.edu.

*The academic health centers in the Afya Bora Consortium are: the University of Nairobi, The University of Botswana, Makerere University, Muhimbili University, the University of Washington, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of California San Francisco.